Weapon and target simulator



g- 1964 A. E. TUCCI ETAL WEAPON AND TARGET SIMULATOR 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Dec. 14, 1962 m M fln m B In. v w m 2 b e m 7 H m g I 4 A y f H mm. a A A 9 4 O \\4 w M r .am h om H 0 WM. m It. m m m A HA A ATTORNEYS 11, 1964 A. E. TUCCI ETAL WEAPON AND TARGET SIMULATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 14, 1962 LITE SUPPLY' I I l I .1 INVENTOR5 lam-now E TUCCI E TORREY ARREN D. HALLERMElER SAMUEL.

1'9 24 J um amdw United States Patent 3,143,811 WEAPON AND TARGET SIMULATO Anthony E. Tueei, Philadelphia, Samuel E. Torrey, Feasterville, and Warren D. Hallermeier, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Dec. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 244,842 r 2 Claims. (Cl. 35--25) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to systems for testing guns and for training personnel in the use of guns. It provides a system which duplicates the action of a gun and target electronically so that various types of gun sights and controls may be tested without the necessity of placing them on a gun and firing at a target. It also permits the training of personnel in restricted quarters for the reason that such training is accomplished without the use of ammunition. As will appear, its essential elements are a gun mount and a gun tube, a control panel, a spotter assembly and a target assembly.

The invention will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings and its scope is indicated by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the system, and

FIG. 2 illustrates the connections for positioning a spotter light in accordance with the pointing of the gun tube.

FIG. 1 shows the target of the system as a black square 19 on a white background. The target is mounted on a belt 11 which is rotatable about pulleys 12 and 13 and drum 14 by means of a reversible variable speed motor 15. The pulley-motor assembly is mounted on a board 16. This board is pivoted at the point 18 to a support so that it can be moved at various slant angles to give the target uphill and downhill courses. Immediately beneath the target course is a clock 17 which shows the accumulated time from the beginning of each target run. Movement of the target is guided by a rod 19 which is fixed to the board.

A spotter projector is located on an overhead mount 19 directly above the pivotal point of the weapon 20 which is illustrated as of the type disclosed in US. Patent #2961002. The projector 18 includes a high intensity light source and projection optics capable of producing a small bright spot of light in the target plane. This spot simulates the terminal display of a subcaliber spotter or a main round.

The spotter projector 18' is rotated in azimuth by a servo motor 21 and in elevation by a servo motor 22. The gun 20 has single control lever 23 which functions through an azimuth transmitter synchro 24 to move the gun in azimuth and through an elevation transmitter synchro 25 to move the gun in elevation. The gun also has a sight 26 and a trigger 27. Intercoupling the elevation transmitter 25 of the gun and the elevation motor 22 of the spotter are electrical connections whereby the projector 18 is made to rotate in elevation in direct relationship to the elevation movements of the gun 20. Similar connections between the azimuth transmitter 24 and the azimuth motor 21 conform the azimuth movement of the spotter projector tothat of the gun. The details of these connections are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

As indicated by these figures, the circuits include a transmitter synchro 28 which has a stator winding 30 and a rotor winding 29 which rotates with the azimuth transmitter 24 of the gun 20. The winding 30 of the 3,143,811 Patented Aug. 11, 1964 ice transmitter synchro 28 is connected through relay contacts 31 and 32 to the stator winding 33 of a follow-up synchro 34. The rotor winding 29 of the synchro 2S and the rotor winding 35 of the synchro 24 are connected to the 110 volt 60 cycle terminals 36. The rotor winding 35 of the follow-up synchro has fixed to it the movable contact 37 of a potentiometer 38. With the relay contacts 31 and 32 in their illustrated closed positions, it can be seen that the contact 37 is positioned in accordance with the position of the azimuth transmitter 24 (FIG. 1) of the gun 20.

The movable contact 39 of a potentiometer 40 is simi larly positioned in accordance with the elevation transmitter 25 of the gun 20 by means of a transmitter synchro 41 which is connected to a follow up synchro 42 through relay contacts 43 and 44.

The output voltage of the potentiometer 38 is applied to the input of a servo amplifier 45 which energizes the azimuth servo motor 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2B). Similarly, the output voltage of the potentiometer 40 is applied to the input of a servo amplifier 46 which energizes the servo motor 22. As previously indicated, the servo motors 21 and 22 position the spotter projector 19 in direct relationship with the position of the gun. The box 47 of FIG. 2B is intended to represent the spotter projector and electrical circuits through which a light source 48 is energized from the 110 volt 60 cycle terminals 78.

The relay contacts 31, 32, 43 and 44 which interconnect the stator windings of the transmitter and follow up synchros are operable to their open positions by a relay coil 5th The coil 50 is energized through a circuit which includes a lead 51, the contacts 52 of a relay 53, a lead 54, the contacts 55 of a relay 56 and a lead 58. The coil 59 of the relay 56 is energized by closure of a switch 57 which is operated by the trigger 27 (FIG. 1) of the gun 20, such energization of the coil 59 being effected by discharge of a capacitor 60 which is normally charged through a rectifier 61 and a resistor 62.

Simultaneously with the opening of the contacts 31, 32, 43 and 44 by energization of the coil 50, a pair of con tacts 63 are closed. Closure of the contacts 63 completes a circuit between the terminals 36 through leads 51 and 54, the coil 65 of a relay 66, a lead 67, contacts 63 and lead 58. The relay 66 is preset to remain in its upper closed position only during a time interval required for a projectile to reach the simulated target range. At the end of this time interval, it moves to its lower closed position where its lower contact discharges a capacitor 69 through the operating coil 70 of a relay 71. The charging circuit of the capacitor 69 includes a rectifier 72 and a resistor '73.

Relay 71 has two sets of contacts 75 and 76. Closure of contacts 75 function through a lead 77 and terminals '78 to turn on the spotting light 48 for a time interval determined by time required for capacitor 69 to discharge through the relay 71 and corresponding to the time of a projectile burst. Closure of contacts 76 in their down position charges a capacitor 79 through the rectifier 72 and resistor 73. At the end of the time interval determined by the relay 71 and capacitor 69, its contacts assume their illustrated positions interrupting the light source circuit and energizing the operating coil 80 of the relay 53 by discharge of capacitor 79. Upon closure of the relay 53, the relay coil 50 is disconnected from the lead 51 and the simulator is in condition for the next cycle of operation.

In the operation of the system, the gunner moves the gun to track the moving target and pulls the trigger when the gun is properly alined with the target. Pulling the trigger moves the switch 57 to its lower closed position. Thereupon the relay coils 59 and 50 function successively with the result that the synchro loops are opened by relay contacts 31, 32, 43, and 44 and the contacts 63 are operated to their lower closed position. Opening of the synchro loops arrests the rotation of the servo motors 21 and 22 and movement of the spotter projector 18'. Closure of contacts 63 energizes time delay relay 66, which is set for a time required for the projectile to reach the target.

At the end of this time interval, relay 66 operates to its lower closed position. This energizes relay 71 which is set to remain closed for a time corresponding to a projectile burst. During this time interval, the contacts 75 function to complete a circuit through which the spotter light 48 is energized, and the contacts 76 charge capacitor 79. The time interval during which the trigger switch 57 andrelay coil 59 are incapable of effecting operation of the contacts 63, 31, 32, 43 and 44 is terminated when relay '53 deenergizes relay 50.

Otherwise stated, when the gunner is tracking a moving target and squeezes the trigger, the servo loop opens and the spotter assembly remains pointed to the same place in azimuth and elevation. After a preset time, which simulates the time of flight of the projectile, the spotter produces a small burst of light on the target area. When the light goes out, the servo loop is reclosed and the spotter assembly slews to the present gun position and the system is in condition for another cycle of operation. It is therefore evident that the system remembers and retains for a predetermined time interval the exact direction in which the gun was fired.

We claim:

' 1. In a Weapon and target simulating system, the combination of V a movable simulated target,

means connected with the target for guiding and moving said target along difierent courses,

a simulated gun having a trigger and a sight for aligning with said target,

means connected with said gun for directing and moving said gun in azimuth and elevation to follow and align with said target, target spotter assembly including a source of light and means for projecting light from said source on said target in the form of a spot representative of a projectile burst, said spotter assembly being movable in azimuth and elevation and located in predetermined spaced relation to said gun, electrical means interconnecting the spotter assembly and the gun and including movable control elements connected to move in azimuth and elevation therewith and operable uponmovement of said gun to move and conform the movement of said spotter assembly to that of said gun,

a control switch operable to a closed position upon the pulling of said trigger,

and control means including a series of relay elements and circuit connections therethrough operable upon the closure of said switch successively to disrupt the 2. spotter assembly and gun interconnection and arrest movement of said spotter assembly, to energize said light source after a time delay representative of the time required for a projectile to travel from said gun to said target, and to deenergize said light source after an additional time delay representative of the duration of a projectile burst. 2. In a weapon and target simulating system, the combination of a movable simulated target,

means connected with said target for guiding and moving said target along different courses, a simulated gun having a trigger and a sight for aligning with said target, means connected with said gun for directing and moving said gun in azimuth and elevation to follow and align with said target, target spotter assembly including a source of'light and means for projecting light from said source on said target in the form of a spot representative of a projectile burst, said spotter assembly being movable in azimuth and elevation and located in predetermined spaced relation to said gun, electrical means interconnecting the spotter assembly and the gun and including a transmitter synchro having a rotor winding connected and movable with said means for moving said gun in azimuth, a transmitter synchro having a rotor winding connected and movable with said means for moving said gun in elevation, a'pair of follow-up synchros each having a rotor winding connected and movable with the rotor winding of a different one of said transmitter synchros, a pair of potentiometers each having a movable contact positioned by the rotor of a different one a of said follow-up synchros, and servo-motor means connected to be controlled by the output of said potentiometers and to move and conform the movement of said spotter assembly to that of said .gun, control switch operable to a closed position upon the pulling of said trigger, and control means including a series of relay elements and circuit connections therethrough operable upon the closure of said switch successively to disconnect and render said follow-up synchros unresponsive to said transmitter synchros, toenergize said light source after a time delay representative of the time required for a projectile to travel from said gun to said target, and to deenergize said light source after an additional time delay representative of the duration of a projectile burst.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. IN A WEAPON AND TARGET SIMULATING SYSTEM, THE COMBINATION OF A MOVABLE SIMULATED TARGET, MEANS CONNECTED WITH THE TARGET FOR GUIDING AND MOVING SAID TARGET ALONG DIFFERENT COURSES, A SIMULATED GUN HAVING A TRIGGER AND A SIGHT FOR ALIGNING WITH SAID TARGET, MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID GUN FOR DIRECTING AND MOVING SAID GUN IN AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION TO FOLLOW AND ALIGN WITH SAID TARGET, A TARGET SPOTTER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A SOURCE OF LIGHT AND MEANS FOR PROJECTING LIGHT FROM SAID SOURCE ON SAID TARGET IN THE FORM OF A SPOT REPRESENTATIVE OF A PROJECTILE BURST, SAID SPOTTER ASSEMBLY BEING MOVABLE IN AZIMUTH AND ELEVATION AND LOCATED IN PREDETERMINED SPACED RELATION TO SAID GUN, 